Britain being turned off Broadband
28 October 2003 - 12:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
Britain being turned off Broadband London, October 28 /PRNewswire/
-- - Rising tide of spam, viruses ruining internet for middle
Britain - Research The drive to Broadband Britain is in danger of
stalling as ordinary people become confused and angry about the
internet's dark side - spam and spyware, porn and pop-ups, viruses
and children in chatrooms - reveals a major new report from the
iSociety project at The Work Foundation to be launched today at the
annual Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) Conference (Tuesday 28th
October) The year-long study - Fat Pipes, Connected People,
produced in partnership with the BSG - suggests that regular
internet users are finding their surfing ruined by these persistent
offenders, and spend most of their time trying to cope. Report
co-author James Crabtree said: "Broadband is vital for Britain's
future, but the industry must put itself in its customers shoes and
see how this tide of rubbish is beginning to ruin the experience of
going online. Ordinary people are promised that broadband makes the
internet better; in fact it sometimes leads to a disaster on the
desktop which makes people consider stopping using the net
altogether." These problems have become significantly worse during
the year in which the research was conducted, argue the authors.
The reports urges the telecoms industry to guard against
complacency and take immediate steps to improve this situation.
Britain remains well behind other broadband countries, and is still
6th out of 7 in the G7 in terms of take-up. There are worrying
signs that the recent rise in cable subscriptions have already
stalled. Most of the people who really wanted broadband have now
got it, meaning the industry must now appeal to a new group of
people that the report labels the "everyday user". To do this the
report suggests that telecoms companies must stop pouring hundreds
of millions of pounds down the drain developing "rich media
content" which doesn't excite their customers, who instead enjoy
creating their own content through exploration, play and
communication with friends and family. Most users are also forced
to rely on friends and family to overcome the dark side of the net
in their search for security, safety, and ease of use online. What
internet users need more than anything is support. This is what the
industry fails to provide. They need support when things go wrong
(as they all-too-frequently do). And they need support to get the
best out of the net. And telecoms companies need to find ways to
support their uses make the most out of the internet. Report
co-Author Simon Roberts said: "Consumers are crying out for
support, and all they get is hours on hold with the 'help' desk.
Telecom's companies must get better at helping people install
broadband, and also find ways to help them explore and enjoy its
possibilities." The report argues that the Broadband industry's
difficulties stem from three big misunderstandings about what its
users actually like about the internet: 1. Broadband isn't just
about Speed. The research found that broadband is being badly sold.
The core-marketing message - broadband is ten times faster - is not
how people experience it. Instead time on broadband is different,
it is about taking it easy. Equally, broadband is not always on,
because most people turn off their computers when they aren't using
them. 2. Broadband isn't just about content. Telecoms companies
like to think that the future of broadband is about consuming "rich
media content". We found no evidence that this is true. Instead,
people like Broadband because it allows you to communicate with
other people, creating and sharing content while you do so. 3.
Broadband isn't just about Adoption. The telecoms industry is
obsessed with adoption. In fact this is a bad way of understanding
the market. We propose two new ways of thinking about this:
adaptation - or how people find cool things to do; and absorption -
or how people understand and enjoy the internet in their day-to-day
lives. Notes to Editors 1. The Work Foundation's iSociety project
is an independent investigation of the impact of Information and
Communication Technology in the UK. Run within the Work
Foundation's research department, and with generous support from
Microsoft and PricewaterhouseCoopers, iSociety continues to
identify 'deep impact' changes brought about by the widespread
diffusion of the ICT into our lives. 2. This research was co-funded
by the Broadband Stakeholder Group. The findings, however, are not
the official view or policy of the BSG. 3. The research for this
report, conducted between August 2002 and October 2003, involved 12
Ethnographic encounters in which trained anthropologists spent a
week with ordinary families and small businesses that used
Broadband internet. 4. The Broadband Stakeholder Group annual
conference is being held on 28th and 29th October at the Lancaster
Hotel London, attended by over 350 representatives from industry
and Government. 5. Recent Research from the Pew Internet project
suggests that 25 percent say spam has made them cut back on e-mail,
70 percent say spam makes being online "annoying.", and 55 percent
of home e-mail users say spam prevents them from reading their
legitimate e-mail. 6. The authors - James Crabtree and Simon
Roberts - are available for interview. DATASOURCE: The Work
Foundation - iSociety Further press enquiries, contact Adam Wurf at
The Work Foundation Tel: +44 (0) 20 7004 7224/7225 or +44 (0) 7812
450 398 or James Crabtree Tel +44 (0) 7932 690 746 The BSG is also
available for comment. Call Alex Quinn on +44 (0) 20 7395 6731
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